Artists Portfolio

Since moving to our studio in Acrefair, I have been producing work that reflects the wonders of the landscape around me, and explores how, over many years, humans have crafted spaces and buildings within that landscape. I have been particularly drawn to the 'Stream in the Sky'; Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (Pronounced Pont-ker-sulth-tay, which is Welsh for 'the bridge that connects') The longest and tallest aqueduct in the UK, Thomas Telford's masterpiece of stone and cast-iron, that stands at 126 ft (38 m) high and 1007ft (307m) long, straddling the River dee below. This UNESCO World Heritage site is a breathtaking union of nature and man-made endeavour at its best. The aqueduct is a structure that dominates the landscape for miles around, I will never tire of seeing it from so many angles, as I marvel at the work and imagination that went into building it back in 1795.

Another structure nearby to our studios is Castell Dinas Bran, high on a hill overlooking the beautiful town of Llangollen and the River Dee that surges through it, Dinas Bran was built almost 800 years ago, although the site boasted several earlier structures dating right back to the Iron Age. The castle ruins that now remain are of a building put up by the Welsh as a defence against English invasion. But less than 20 years after it was built, King Edward 1st launched the Conquest of North Wales in 1277, from Chester. Fearing defeat and not wishing the castle to fall into English hands, the Welsh set it alight. Although the castle was not badly damaged and was repaired and garrisoned by the English. It then changed hands throughout the remaining war until in 1282, it was abandoned, and left to fall into ruin. Now its remains watch over the town and countryside below, representing to me the beauty of human endeavour and the folly of war.